


Dick's Little Family

by Marniekarms



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Dick is a dad even though he won't admit it, Eventually they find the rest of the kids, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, I aged the kids down, Mama Kory, dickkory - Freeform, non-canon, the plot is totally different and takes place over a much longer time, titans as a family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21780940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marniekarms/pseuds/Marniekarms
Summary: Detective Dick Grayson remembered the last time he considered himself a part of a team. And just before they started to feel like a family that had been snatched from him. But on early Saturday mornings, with two kids begging him for pancakes, he realizes that he may have stumbled directly into what he didn't know he needed.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Koriand'r & Garfield Logan & Raven, Dick Grayson & Koriand’r, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, DickKory
Comments: 23
Kudos: 214





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This is not canon in the slightest. The characters have their powers but Rachel and Gar are babies, Kory finds them and is their mama, and Dick for all intents and purposes is their dad. Also Dick has a huge crush on Kory but is too busy being a hero to admit it to himself.

When Dick awoke Saturday morning it was with a small hand covering his face and to the sound of unison snoring. Gently removing the appendage, so as not to disturb the boy attached to it, he carefully maneuvered his body to look at the other members in the bed. Eight-year-old Gar was sprawled across the middle of the bed, with the top half of his body on Dick, and his feet nestled under Kory’s knees. Six-year-old Rachel had climbed completely into Kory’s arms, with her arms wrapped around the older woman’s neck and her little body resting against Kory’s stomach. Kory rubbed a gentle hand up and down the girl’s back as Rachel snored lightly against her neck.

“They both swear that they don’t snore, but this is what I wake up to every Saturday.” Kory brightly greeted Dick in a whispered tone. Dick didn’t know it how it was possible that even first thing in the morning Kory looked like she had walked off of a runway. Her red hair fell in waves around her face, and her dark green eyes held a mischievous glint. He ran a hand through his bedhead before pushing the dark green hair out of Gar’s face to watch the boy sleep. For such a small body the sounds that he was making were honestly impressive.

If you had told Dick Grayson five months ago when he had met Kory Anders that he would be waking up in bed with her, he wouldn’t have been shocked. Well maybe shocked that she would agree to it, but she had been a force unlike any other. But this was for sure not what he had expected. Waking up with two kids sprawled between them who he was slowly realizing he wasn’t going to be able to imagine his life without. He was literally sharing a bed with three people who had super powers like they were a regular family waking up for a regular Saturday.

“The way that Gar snores you can’t forget that he’s part tiger.” Dick laughed as he stroked his fingers through the boy’s hair. When they had first met him, Gar’s hair was shaved in a buzz cut; so short that it almost appeared black. But now that it was longer it was clear that it was actually dark green. The same color as his tiger fur. “How do you do it Ms. Anders?”

“Well I’m lucky that I have cute kids.” Kory leaned over and rubbed Gar’s back. “Plus, I guess somebody’s got to train’em.”

Their morning continued in lazy hushed conversation until Rachel began to stir.

“Mommy?” Rachel lifted her head from Kory’s chest and tiredly rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Kory,” She corrected herself realizing where she was. “I’m hungry.”

“Well kid I am too. But we both have pretty bad morning breath. So how about you wake up Gar and we can all go brush our teeth? I’m thinking pancakes.” Kory had already taken the little girl out of her lap and placed her on the bed. Without missing a beat Rachel flung her body onto Gar’s and started tickling him.

“Gar wake up! Kory says that we can make pancakes!”

“I’m up!” In his excitement to hear about pancakes one of Gar’s hands had smacked Dick square on the jaw, but if he noticed the boy did not seem to let on. Instead he turned his bright eyes to Dick. “Dickie, are you staying for pancakes?”

Typically, when Dick came to visit them on Saturdays it was in the afternoon, but from what he understood in this house Saturday mornings were meant for pancakes. A part of him wanted to say yes. To just seep into the fabric of this family that he had helped create.

_When he had met Kory, she had already found Rachel. The woman and the girl hadn’t known each other for long. Kory had explained that she was on a mission from space to protect Rachel. And he hadn’t believed her until she had shown him a crashed spaceship with a fuzzy sounding message coming over one of its mission logs saying “Mission…locate subject … protect … subject … kill … if necessary”, the whole time a picture of Rachel flickered on the cracked screen. Kory had found Rachel alone in a house that looked too decorated and lived in to be abandoned. The child had explained that she lived there with her mother. But one morning when she woke up the house had smelled like smoke, as if there had been a fire, and that her mother was nowhere to be found._

_When Dick asked them how long they had been traveling together Rachel had said about a week and Kory had shrugged her shoulders while pulling the girl subconsciously closer. Their body language made it seem as if they had known each other longer. But Dick figured they kept track of time as well as any alien from another planet and six-year-old could._

_They had found Garfield Logan together. One of Kory’s contacts had led her to Gotham, which led her to Dick. He didn’t understand at first why she had insisted on meeting during the day at somewhere child friendly, but it quickly made sense when she walked in. She had brought Rachel along for the meeting and had given the child far too much money to buy snacks at the vending machine. While the grownups had talked business, the little girl had made friends with a boy that had been sitting at a table staring at the machines even though he hadn’t brought money to buy anything. She had given him some of her money and told him to buy whatever he wanted. So, he did, but he bought an extra candy bar that she had said she liked and gave it to her._

_Then the next thing they knew the small skating rink had been attacked. Probably by the people that wanted her hurt Rachel, Kory had muttered under her breath. The people that she was sent here to stop. That was when Dick had discovered that Kory had superpowers. Which wasn’t surprising in a world where people could fly or run faster than the speed of light. But when she had walked in she had already looked like such a badass and now this?_

_In the aftermath when they were checking on Rachel the little girl kept insisting that she was fine, but was worried about her friend._

_“Is Garfield okay?” Rachel had asked repeatedly._

_“Who is Garfield?” Kory asked, trying to calm her down._

_“Garfield is a cartoon cat. He’s like a thing that kids watch on tv.” Dick explained. Kory shot him a quizzical look._

_“I highly doubt that she is talking about a cartoon cat.” Kory let the last words awkwardly roll off her tongue, not having context for either of them. And of course, she was right, because that made no sense. But everything felt like chaos right now to Dick who desperately wanted to be a hero._

_“Is Garfield okay?” Rachel didn’t care about what the adults had to say. Recognition dawned on Kory’s face as she remembered the boy that Rachel had been talking to._

_They had found Gar huddled behind some cars that had been thrown across the street by the attack. After making sure that he was okay Dick noticed the skittish behavior in how the boy never seemed to settle down. Then when the sun gleamed on his hair at the right angle he also realized that what he had mistaken for black was actually dark green. Which was unusual for small child, especially given reports in the news recently about a green tiger being spotted roaming about the next town over. So, when Gar had said he didn’t want to go back home in a haunted voice, and Rachel had suggested he could travel with her and Kory, Dick had offered to help them out._

_Kory hadn’t been thrilled at the prospect of now having to protect two children instead of one, but he also knew that she had picked up on Gar’s uneasiness. Living out of her truck and motels had been easy enough with Rachel, but he had offered her something more stable. He had explained that it used to be a safe house, but that while it was still safe, it didn’t have the space that the owner had needed. He didn’t tell Kory who the owner was, and she wasn’t sold that it would be any different than the motels._

_So, after a lot of back and forth arguing Dick realized that there was no point in hiding the truth. He trusted his contact, and so did she._

_“This house belongs to Bruce Wayne. He has no need for it anymore, but all of the security is still in place.” Dick admitted. Then he realized he was talking to an alien who had no concept of the level of fame of that name. “This house belongs to Batman.”_

_“Batman?” Both kids screamed from the corner of the room._

_“You know Batman?” For the first time Gar had looked excited. “Does that mean you know Robin?” A look passed over Dick’s face so quickly that Kory didn’t have time to place it. But Dick’s comment had done what it needed to do._

_“How much do you want for the place?”_

_“I don’t own it, so let’s just say it’s free.” Dick figured helping Kory with this was better than anything Bruce Wayne was actually doing with his money._

_“Well thank you Detective Grayson.”_

“Dickie, are you staying for pancakes or not?” By this time Gar and Rachel had both brushed their teeth and Dick still hadn’t moved from the bed. They seemed so much bigger than they had five months ago. They called him Dickie, except for during training when he was stern about them calling him Dick so that they took it seriously. While they had always been affectionate with Kory, Rachel had given him a hug for the first-time last month. What had seemed like a ragtag collection of strangers such a short time ago was clearly starting to become a family.

Which was a word that scared Dick. He had only had one family. And that had been taken away from him. And the next time that he was promised one, that had been a lie. And the last time that he tried to make one, he had failed. So maybe it was best not to try this time.

“I can’t stay. I promised Kory that I would help her out this week while she was gone. But now that’s she is back I have to return to Gotham to catch up on work.” Dick tried not to look at the crestfallen look on the two faces staring back at him as he extracted himself from the bed.


	2. Sick Days

Monday mornings were never fun at the station. Due to the nature of the job there was never a true weekend, but for some reason Dick always needed his three cups of coffee to get through the morning on Mondays. So now, at 10:30 and just finishing his second cup, he was seriously debating getting up to pour himself another when he heard the click of boots against the laminate floor getting louder as they approached his desk. Without looking up, a curious look crossed his face. In the precinct, everyone stuck to comfortable footwear.

At the sound of the clicking stopping right before his desk, Dick looked up. What he found was a tired looking Gar coughing pitifully into his elbow, with an even more tired looking Kory standing behind him. The youngest member of their crew did not look tired, but Dick could barely see her as she hid behind Kory’s legs.

“Dick, I need you to fix him.” Kory gestured to the boy standing miserably in front.

“Kory could this not have been a text?” The people around him in the precinct were staring. Which he had to admit he probably would too. But what he wasn’t a fan of was his deskmate, Detective Peters, giving Kory the once over. Standing from his desk he herded the little group away from his desk and into an empty conference room down the hall.

“Well if you must know Grayson the kids missed you.” Kory sassed back once they were all settled in the room.

“I came over Saturday.” Dick defended. “Also there was no way Gar was this sick on Saturday or I would have noticed.” Another wracking chorus of coughing filled the room as Gar tried to cover his mouth.

“We missed you yesterday Dickie.” Rachel was no longer hiding behind Kory and was standing directly in front of him. “Kory was busy taking care of Gar all day yesterday so we didn’t get to play.”

“I tried everything that I could read online, but I think he needs medicine. The last thing that I can do though is take him to an actual doctor.” Kory leaned over and whispered in his ear so that the kids wouldn’t overhear. “I saw you stitch yourself back up last month after that chase and figured maybe you could help?”

Last month when they had been out in town to grab groceries Dick had noticed a man following them around the store. To confirm his suspicions, he had split off from Kory and the kids and once they had left the store he had followed the man out and had attacked right before he got to his car. Kory had suggested that they change roles since Dick hadn’t come prepared to fight and she had powers. But he had turned her down, sighting that the kids were more comfortable with her. _Dick, they wouldn’t throw a fit about spending time with you_ , she had fired back. But just as Kory had expected the man had brought a weapon, a knife. He had managed to get a jab into Dick’s forearm right before Dick was able to disarm him.

“Gar come over here.” Dick gently beckoned. While he was sure that Kory wouldn’t be able to catch whatever Gar had due to her alien immune system he was careful to keep the sick boy a reasonable distance from himself and Rachel. Placing the back of his hand on Gar’s forehead he realized he had a fever. He also had swollen lymph nodes and congested sinuses, but aside from the coughing his throat looked fine. “I’ll pick up some medicine for you at the store and stop by tonight. In the meantime take him back to the house and make him some tea and soup, wrap him up in blankets, and get plenty of rest. Also, Rachel shouldn’t be near him in case he is contagious.”

“Am I dying?” The boy asked pathetically. Dick just ruffled his hair and stood up.

“You’re not dying Garfield. They are going to make you all better.” Rachel comforted. Dick realized that for these two kids especially, Kory and even himself to a certain extent were their life lines. They saw other people when they went out, but they really only had each other.

“We are counting on you Grayson.” Kory said as they stopped back by Dick’s desk before leaving. At the smirk on Dick’s face Kory let the tough façade down. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

“But also, would it kill you to decorate your desk? The only thing letting us know it was yours was the name plate.” She stuck out her tongue before he could say anything and ushered the kids out. Checking the clock, he tried to remember what he had been doing before the little interruption. Deciding that maybe this Monday he wouldn’t need that second cup of coffee, he returned to his work so that he could finish earlier and check in with Kory.

Later that night when he got to the safe house he found Rachel and Kory at the table doing a math worksheet. Schooling was something Gar had brought up a few months ago and Dick and Kory felt like it would be something to help break up the monotony of their days. So, while they didn’t formally attend school or were enrolled in a homeschool program, Kory and Dick would send each other worksheets that they thought would help the kids.

Placing the bag of medicine on the other end of the table, Dick asked where Gar was.

“In the living room watching movies on the couch. But now that you are home we can eat dinner so go and grab him.” Kory stood from the table and made her way to the kitchen to bring out the food and plates. “Rachel, you did well, you can clean up your math and come help me grab things.” Kory called over the sound of pots and pans clinging in the kitchen.

Dutifully, Rachel moved her worksheet and closed the thin textbook. Pulling out a picture of a crudely drawn circus tent with an elephant standing beside it she handed it to Dick bashfully.

“I made it for your desk. So that you would have something on it. It’s the circus. Not like the one you showed us on tv, but it’s like the one my mama took me to when I was little. You said you liked the circus.”

Staring down at the picture, Dick thought about his days in the circus. About his parents. About how when he was Rachel’s age he would love to draw pictures for them. And seeing how excited she had been to give this picture to him, he couldn’t help but feel special.

“Thanks. I guess this means that next time you guys stop by my work, Kory won’t be able to tease me, huh?”

“Hey, that’s not fair, you tease her too.” Gar had come out of the living room once he could smell the food being taken out of the oven. Food was one of Gar’s favorite things in the world, so it wasn’t surprising to Dick.

“My mommy said that sometimes when a boy teased you it meant that he liked you.” Rachel pointed out. And as if she had revealed a secret that she wasn’t supposed to tell, she ran out of the dining room giggling. Before Dick could even comment Kory came back in the room carrying a casserole dish. Dick and Gar shared a look as if to agree that they wouldn’t acknowledge Rachel’s comment and sat down to dinner with their girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos and comments! In my head cannon little Rachel is very shy around anyone that she doesn't consider her family and Dick Grayson is too dense to realize that is what he is to her. Also Dick makes them watch videos of Cirque de Soleil when they get tired of training and the whole family loves it.


	3. Donna

For the past six months Kory had been sleeping alone, save for the sleepovers that she would have with the kids on Friday nights where they would all pile into her bed and watch movies. For the first month, they had all shared a room. Rachel would wake up from a nightmare and crawl across the bed to Kory who would soothe her back to sleep. Or Kory would wake up to the sound of Gar crying in his sleep and rock him in her arms while he snuggled closer. But now the kids were doing much better and Kory realized that being the light sleeper that she was, spending the night with two snoring kids wasn’t doing anything for her beauty sleep. So, she had taken the room next to the stairs, with Gar across from her and Rachel next door. The walls were thick enough to muffle their snores, but she felt comforted that she could still hear them; a reminder that they were safe.

What awoke Kory this night though wasn’t the sound of one of her kids trying to quietly open her door and climb in her bed. She heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, but the alarm hadn’t gone off which meant that it had been disabled. Dick? Dick wouldn’t have a reason to be out here this late during the middle of the week. Before she had any more time to think things through she heard a frightened Rachel scream for help.

“Mommy!” Rachel’s voice pierced through any sleep ridden fog that Kory was stuck in. Quickly she grabbed her phone from the night stand and ran to Gar’s room. Throwing open the door she tossed her phone at the little boy.

“Call Dick.” She instructed right before she raced down the stairs. When she got to the kitchen she found a tall woman with long dark brown hair standing in her kitchen. She was holding a glowing rope in her hand that was currently tied around Rachel. Kory shot a starbolt at the stranger knocking her off her feet. Quickly Kory untied the lasso from around the little girl and told her to run upstairs to Gar. Before she could turn back around Kory felt a strong punch across her face, knocking her back, and letting her know that whoever this was in her kitchen, there was no way this person human. Shaking the punch off Kory stood up with a smirk on her face.

“Oh, this is going to be a fun fight.” Kory said right as she started to glow.

Upstairs Gar was on the phone with Dick. He had called immediately and had let Dick know that someone was in the house. Dick was confused because the intrusion alarm was set to send an emergency message to both his and Kory’s phones.

“Well maybe it’s not an intrusion?” Gar had asked innocently. Dick had already jumped out of bed and was pulling on clothes and grabbing his keys for the helicopter as he instructed Gar to stay on the phone. He checked the cameras on the property as he ran to the helipad.

“Well that’s the thing kid, that house is out of commission. It hasn’t been used in years, that’s why I put you guys there.” With confusion as he clicked through screens he started the helicopter. He saw a car entering the premise on the cameras, but whoever was in the dark tinted van knew all of the codes to get past security.

“Dickie there is a woman with a yellow rope fighting Kory downstairs. I’m sorry, I just got up to get a snack and then she tied me up.” Rachel had come running into the room with a loud blast following her. Immediately everything clicked.

“Donna?” Donna had been gone for about three years now. Ever since the Titans had disbanded and they had decided to go their separate ways. Ironically, Donna was the only one that he had kept in touch with, but he hadn’t heard from her since about a month ago. And he had never told her about the kids and Kory, so she would have no reason to think the house was occupied. Dick heard another blast and the sound of things falling and even though he knew the helicopter flight would be five minutes he would do anything to minimize the destruction that he could hear happening.

As soon as the blades touched the ground Dick had jumped out and started running to the door.

“Donna!” Dick yelled throwing open the door. Luckily the two women had mainly stuck to hand to hand combat, but Dick could smell the burning smell of singed dry wall in the air. When he walked in he found a heaving Kory standing over Donna. Kory had managed to bust Donna’s lip. Donna also had a bruise forming the right side of her face. Dick could tell by the way Kory winced as she stretched out her neck that Donna had managed to get in a few good hits of her own. Kory also turned at the sound of his voice and Donna used the moment to catch her off guard, kicking her feet out from under her and overpowering her.

“Dick, I found a child and this woman inside the house when I got here.”

“Donna, let her go. She’s not an intruder she lives here.” Donna loosened her grip but still held her arm loosely around Kory’s neck. Which Dick knew was pointless considering how strong the Tamaranean was. Kory just smirked at him as if she had read his mind. “Donna…”

With a sigh, she released her hold on Kory who dusted off the imaginary dirt on her shorts.

“Deal with this Grayson. I’m going to check on the kids.”

“Bring them down here, I want to talk to them too.” Dick knew he said it as a command, but he didn’t feel right telling her what to do with the kids. Kory just shot him a genuine smile as she started walking up the stairs.

“We’ll be in the living room.” She called over her shoulder, and he couldn’t help the smile that bloomed over his features. He, however, was rapidly called out of his thoughts by the sound of a throat clearing behind him.

“I know that we haven’t talked in a bit, but this is a pretty big development to not mention Richard.”

“What are you doing here?”

“She said kids, how many are there?”

“Why are you using this house?”

“So, I drop off the face of the Earth for a bit and come back to Dick Grayson, soccer dad?”

Realizing that they weren’t going to answer each other’s questions Dick let out a chuckle and opened his arms. Slowly, but comfortably she walked into the space he had created for her and rested her head on his chest. They stood like that for a long time before they heard a small voice call out his name and Donna snickered against his chest.

“Do you want to meet them?” Dick asked in a small voice; avoiding her eyes.

“Well I guess it’s only right since I just fought your girlfriend. She is your girlfriend, right? Because if she is single then I’m calling dibs.”

In the living room, they found Kory sitting on the couch with Rachel sitting on the cushion next to her and Gar sitting in her lap. Donna stopped near the doorway and Dick continued in. Rachel jumped down and ran to him, and he picked her up with ease.

“Dickie I’m sorry I was up getting a snack.” Then looking over his shoulder she whispered in his ear. “Is she a bad lady?” She asked pointing a small finger at Donna. Smoothing down her black hair and placing a kiss to her temple Dick tried to calm the little girl.

“She’s not a bad lady. She’s my friend.” Turning to Donna he smiled. “She’s like a sister to me.”

“Then why did she try to hurt mommy?” It took Dick a second to realize that she was referring to Kory as her mommy. He decided to table that for later and focus on the question at hand.

“It was a misunderstanding. But Kory is doing okay; and Donna is doing okay and she is sorry. How are you and Gar doing?”

“I’m good.”

“I’m good too, but I’m sleepy.” Gar piped up.

“Well for tonight how about you two go back to bed. I don’t think you guys will be able to stay here until we get the kitchen fixed up. But I’ll find a new place for you guys in the meantime.” Dick instructed.

“Kory can we sleep in your bed?” Gar asked as they walked slowly towards the stairs. When she nodded yes, the eight and six-year-old both started giggling to each other and took off towards her room.

Donna walked further into the room and took the chair across from Kory as Dick sat down on the couch.

“I didn’t know that Dick Grayson had friends.” Kory opened.

“Well I didn’t know that little Dick had a secret family.”

“Kory Anders.”

“Donna Troy.” The two women shook hands. And by the smiles on their faces Dick was almost worried that he preferred the scene he had walked in to. After a little bit of banter Donna stood from the couch and stretched. “It looks like I’m not staying here tonight. Dick, take me back to your place.”

“Okay wait outside, I’ll be there in a bit.” He threw her the keys to the copter and turned back to the beautiful dark-skinned alien standing in front of him. “So since when does Rachel call you mommy?”

“Since tonight. I mean she has done it before on accident, but she always corrects herself. But I guess now I’m officially her mommy. Does that make me a MILF?” Kory joked, and at the uncomfortable look on Dick’s face she couldn’t help but laugh. “But I guess this means that we should consider investing in a minivan.”

“What do you mean? The car can fit the kids just fine.” Then as if he had realized her full statement he added. “What do you mean we?”

“Dick Grayson, you are the only person who can’t see that you are a part of this family. Honestly if I hadn’t been to your job I would think that you were lying about being a detective.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Momma Kory is always ready to fight for her kids. In the next chapter there will be a birthday boy! Also I apologize for typos, because I literally just wrote this on a plane. Again, thanks for leaving kudos and comments!


	4. Gar has a party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gar Logan deserves a day about him, but he is such a sweet boy that it also just is a lot of found family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am currently in the process of editing this chapter as well as the previous chapter. Also if you have any prompt ideas that you would like me to work in leave a comment! I have a chapter idea about Rachel discovering her powers, but for completely anal reasons it has to be chapter 7. In the next chapter though, Dick moves in, because that is what Dickkory deserves.

Gar had been extra antsy lately. Which was impressive for the boy since he was constantly chattering and moving about. But within the last week Kory had noticed that he always seemed to cut his sentences short, as if he was afraid of saying too much. He was repeating himself more lately, as if wanting to fill the silence, but not wanting to dispel anything new. Which for a little boy who had once spent an entire hour trying to memorize the alphabet backwards, out loud, wasn’t out of the blue. But the darting around of his eyes and bouncing of his legs during most discussion had peaked Kory’s interest.

At first, she had considered that it was from the move. After her fight with Donna, Dick had relocated them to a house just outside of Milwaukee. Which was farther from Gotham than he would have liked, but Donna was also using it as one of her temporary residencies, so she also would stop in. Being father from Gotham though had meant that they didn’t see Dick as often as the kids or Kory would like. Kory didn’t realize just how much Dick’s presence had grown in their lives until it was abruptly limited. But this past weekend Dick had stopped by, and if anything, Gar had been more secretive than usual.

“Alright kid, spill.” Kory stood in the young boy’s bedroom door. Well, Gar and Rachel's bedroom. This house was smaller than their last one, so Gar and Rachel were sharing a room, and Donna and Kory each had their own. The two kids didn’t seem to mind though. Dick had bought them a video game system to give them more things to do during the day, and Kory would hear them whispering stories to each other all night if she didn’t come in and tell them to go to bed.

“Spill what?” Gar had pulled the star covered sheets right up to under his chin, with only his face peeking out. She noticed his eyes dart to the bed across the room as if looking for backup but Rachel was still in the bathroom getting ready for bed so it was just the two of him.

“You’ve been different lately. And not a bad different but I’m worried about you.” Kory walked further into the room and sat down gently on the side of the bed. “At first I figured that you just missed Dick-”

“I do miss him.” Gar interrupted, but Kory continued.

“We all miss him sweetie. But even today when he was here you seemed… not yourself?” Maybe it was futile asking an eight-year-old to diagnose himself. Eventually though after a pause that Kory hadn’t even realized had started Gar broke the silence.

“Do you have birthdays where you’re from?” He asked in the smallest voice.

Kory paused at his question. The truth was she didn’t know. She had never mentioned it to the kids or Dick, but her memories of who she was before the woke up in her wrecked ship were all fuzzy. Her name, her mission, her contact, and the identify of her planet had all come from the few mission logs that she could decipher. But she wouldn’t tell the kids that, they were just kids. And even though Dick had been helpful, there was a hesitancy always right under the surface of every interaction that almost made him seem as if he was ready to leave at the drop of a hat.

“Of course, we have birth days. Everyone has to be born. We just don’t hatch.” _We don’t hatch, correct? Surely not._

“But like, with parties and ice cream and cake?” Gar’s forehead wrinkled as if he was trying to imagine her planet. Did everyone look like Kory? Were they all silly and nice and would be willing to wear little hats and sing songs? He was sure Kory would but maybe she was different.

“Cake?” Rachel asked as she walked in. Her hair was wet and she was dressed in an oversized tee shirt that fell to her knees like a dress. Before she could climb in her bed Kory asked if she brushed her teeth. Confidently, Rachel walked over and opened her mouth wide, blowing minty air into Kory’s face. Then, not missing a beat she repeated her question.

“I was telling Kory about birthday parties.”

“Gar is your birthday coming up?” Rachel was definitely the more even keel of the two, but Kory saw her eyes glint.

“It’s on Thursday.” He admitted sheepishly. The gasp that came from the small girl standing onside of the bed amused the older woman.

“Kory can we have a party? We can invite Dick and Donna?” Rachel asked as if that was something Gar wanted. In response, he just gave a small nod from his place under the sheets. “What did you do last year for your birthday?”

“Well, last year Rita made a cake for me and then everybody in the house helped me decorate it and we sang happy birthday and had cake.”

_Rita._ It was a name he had never mentioned before; in fact, this was the first person that he had named that let them know he knew people before them.

“Well we can bake as many cakes as you want, and I’ll invite Dick and Donna.” Kory promised tucking both kids into bed.

The next day she had called Dick to find out more about birthday parties. Dick had explained that there were typically guests and activities and presents. They had come up with a list of presents for Gar including a Nintendo switch, bicycles for him and Rachel, and way too many video games. Kory had also texted Donna to see if she would be in town for his birthday party that upcoming Saturday because she had a special treat planned. Now that there were three adults, two of which were other worldly, she felt slightly better about the kids being out more. Also, since they had move to Milwaukee they hadn’t had a visit from anybody trying to kill Rachel. When Donna had texted back that she was in Kory immediately started planning what they could do to surprise Gar.

Given that one of their favorite activities to do together was bake, Kory had decided to make Gar’s small party baking themed. She had aprons for everyone and early that Saturday morning Gar, Rachel, Kory, Dick, and Donna stood in the kitchen surrounded by mixing bowls and pans of various sizes. Kory had figured that it was easiest for them all to help with making one type of cake batter, so she chose Gar’s favorite, funfetti. Donna insisted though that she was going to make a cookie cake, because at some point they were bound to get tired of endless funfetti.

The baking process was relatively simple, with Dick giving orders, Kory telling the kids to use their creativity and not follow Dick’s orders, and the kids following Kory’s orders which Dick pointed out wasn’t creative. Donna couldn’t help the smile that creeped on her face as she took in their dynamic. If she wasn’t so happy for Dick she would be appalled. Once they got all the pans in the oven they made their way to the living room for Gar to open presents. Dick had managed to sneak most of them in, so when Gar saw the large pile of presents sitting in the middle of the room he turned back to the adults in awe.

“For me?”

“Well one of them is for you and Rachel, but its only because I figured if we didn’t get her one you two would probably just share and this way it’s more fun.” Dick admitted.

The two kids took off to the stack and Gar animatedly began tearing paper as Rachel stood to the side. After every present, he would shriek out what it was and say thank you, and Rachel would turn her bright eyes to the trio in the corner proudly. He had a stack of video games, consoles, books, and more.

“Are you sure you guys didn’t go a bit overboard?” Donna asked. “What are you going to do next year?”

A year felt a long way away, but Dick and Kory realized it had already been over half a year. In that time, they had warded off countless attacks, and made two children who felt the weight of the world, smile as if they knew they were safe.

“Rachel, we got bikes.” Gar yelled as he looked inside of a box that was as large as him.

“And you know what, you’ll need those for the personal Mario kart race track that is set up in the yard.” Kory surprised as Dick helped pull the bikes out of the box to show the kids. A chorus of thanks rang out as the kids talked over each other. “Well that part was all Dick’s idea.”

“Dick, that’s so cool. Thanks.” Gar gave him a long hug before he went back to his bike.

After the excitement died down they decided to frost their cakes. Rachel somehow ended up with frosting above her eyebrow, and holding patch of sprinkles to her cheek. Gar had decorated his cake with half green and half orange. Just like it used to be, he had explained with no further explanation. Kory’s cake was covered in frosting and an array of colorful sprinkles and edible glitter. Dick being Dick had meticulously frosted it to get perfect clean lines and written Happy Birthday Gar in blue cursive letters. Donna had written HBD Gar in frosting and was currently eating the rest of her cookie dough as she helped the kids frost theirs.

The rest of the afternoon Gar and Rachel raced around the obstacle course that Dick had built for them in the front yard. As the yelps of laughter rang through the air and pure joy shined from their faces, Kory realized she didn’t even mind when Rachel came over to her requesting a band aid. Dick had been adamant about the kids wearing helmets, elbow guards, and knee guards. But Rachel had scraped her hand in a fall. A little tiny cut. But she was okay. She was safe. They all were.

Thoroughly tuckered out after their fifth time around the obstacle course that they kept insisting Dick rearrange, the group headed back in to sing happy birthday and eat cake. Dick added nine candles to the top of Gar’s cake while Kory snapped pictures. As Donna went to go place the cake on the table for them all to eat, Gar grabbed Kory’s hand, holding her back.

“Kory, I just wanted to say.” Gar started before looking down at his dirt covered shoes, working up the courage to continue. “I just wanted to say thank you. This was the best day that I’ve had in a long time. Probably one of the best days ever in the world. I love you.”

“I love you too, Garfield. I would do anything in the world to protect you.”

“And Rachel?”

“And Rachel. I would burn every building to the ground for everyone in this house.”

“Me too.” Gar gave her hand a squeeze with his much smaller one and started to tug her to the table.


	5. Dick Moves In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The latest installment in which Dick realizes that there are a lot of pros to living with his little family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild sexual references.

The construction on the original safe house had taken longer than Dick would have wanted. When he had brought up to Bruce that they would need to redo the kitchen, Bruce had asked quite a few questions. Dick had made up a story about how Donna had come back into town and surprised him, which had ended with some damage. Sure, Bruce could pull the footage from the cameras if he wanted to, and Dick was sure that he had, but he had also sent out his private contractors to do the renovations with minimal questions asked. If it was anything like Bruce, he had already decided to look into Kory and the kids on his own.

The renovations were only set to last a month, but Dick realized that when you were used to seeing someone all the time, one month felt like a year. Plus, he realized that they could add more space to accommodate Kory and the kids and make it feel more homey, so Bruce had allowed for further renovations no questions asked. And so, by the time that the everything was finished, he had already set up one of the extra bedrooms for him to move in to.

Driving with Kory and the kids back to the old house, Dick checked the rearview mirror to see the two kids sharing twizzlers in the backseat and playing with the switch. Kory was also munching on a pack of twizzlers in the passenger seat, and Dick had his own pack of bell pepper sticks. Kory was singing along to the radio under her breath as she smiled at the passing scenery. Dick thought back to when he was little and he would crawl into the front seat to watch the towns pass as they traveled with the circus.

“Dickie, are you staying the night?” Gar asked as he took a break to look up from the screen.

“Actually, about that…” He turned down the radio and chanced a look at Kory. “I was planning on moving into the house with you guys. It’s not that far from work so I can commute. And I figured since you were used to having the extra help with Donna, that I could help out more in this house.” His knuckles went white as he refused to look at Kory. _I should have asked first._

“That would be great, Dick.” Kory reached out a slender hand and squeezed his thigh. Dick’s cheeks flushed red at the touch and for the first time he realized that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Helping Kory with the kids made all of the sense in the world to him. But having to be around Kory 24/7 and not embarrass himself seemed impossible. He already had to stop himself from staring at her, or pull his eyes away from her smooth skin when one of the kids asked him a question.

“This is going to be so much fun. You can read us more bedtime stories. Kory always stops at one.” Rachel pouted from the backseat.

“That’s because the first time you tricked me into reading to you for over an hour.”

“But it was fun.” Rachel reaffirmed and Dick didn’t know how Kory was able to say no to that face. Her pout emphasized how chubby and pinchable her cheeks were and Dick knew with that thought that he had officially crossed into being a dad. Quickly shaking the thought away, he made eye contact with Rachel in the mirror and laughed.

“Well kiddo, I don’t know how much fun I’ll be. I figured that after we all got settled in we could go grocery shopping. I was thinking of trying out a new vegan pulled pork meal with stuffed mushrooms for dinner.” Both kids made noises of disgust and Kory was happy that she still got to hold the role of cool parent.

“We are kids. We are supposed to eat macaroni and cheese and pizza. Not slimy mushrooms.” Gar pointed out as if it was an indisputable fact.

“Well Gar, any night that I don’t have to cook for you guys is a win, so it sounds like we are eating Dick’s slimy mushrooms.” Teased Kory as the green haired boy seemed to give up. As they all continued their conversation about the move, and dinner, and even the next week Dick began to wonder why he had been worried to ask about moving in. This car was filled with his people, and he knew that they wanted him near just as badly as he wanted to be here. As the two kids in the back weighed the pluses and minuses of having to eat mushrooms, Dick couldn’t help keeping the mirth out of his eyes.

It didn’t take long for Dick to settle into a routine in the house with Kory and the kids. For someone who got her energy from the sun, Kory was not much of a morning person. So, Dick had been more than happy to take over breakfast duty before he left for work. When he arrived home, there was typically a meal of some sort whether it be homemade or carryout. Then after dinner Dick would sit down with the kids so that Kory could get some work done following up on leads about Rachel or contacts to help fix her ship. Typically, Dick would read case files while the kids played games or watched tv. Sometimes if his workload wasn’t too much he would join in with them. But like clockwork Kory would finish her work, and they would get the kids ready and in bed.

Then they would reconvene at the kitchen table and talk about the real details about their days. The gritty and gruesome facts that they kept hidden from the kids, to give them some semblance of a normal childhood. Dick would bring up the how the body that they found in the alley matched the id for the missing person that they reported last week. Or Kory would bring up that she had to go on a short trip to pick up a piece of alien tech and that she wouldn’t be sleeping at the house that night. But they always took time to check in with each other beyond what they were doing. Dick could see the worry on Kory’s face when she would mention that she didn’t even know if the kids had allergies after seeing a report on the news about the rise in peanut allergies. After one day when Dick didn’t come home and Kory had called to check in on him, she heard the tiredness and regret in his voice as he told her he was sleeping at his old apartment since it was closer and he was worried about the commute.

But they had made it work for them, and now sitting at the table, watching Kory bite her bottom lip in concentration as she read through a report that Dick had found from a police scanner a few towns over, Dick felt his bones sink into the chair. It had been a long time since he felt normal. He realized that it had been even longer since he had felt lucky. But sitting here, across from what he could only imagine was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy with two kids upstairs who had told him that they loved him, Dick Grayson felt lucky. 

“I think this matches the report that I found out from Sacramento. It’s either upstairs in my drawer or I put it with the other files in my desk. Can you go check the top drawer in my bedroom? I’m going to check the office.” Kory pushed her seat back from the table and quickly crossed the kitchen without so much as a glance in Dick’s direction. Which he had honestly preferred since he could feel his cheeks turning rosy by the second.

Kory had a bathroom in her bedroom which typically meant that save for the times when he saw her in her pajamas, seeing Kory around the house now was no different than it had been before Dick moved in. One morning though Rachel had hurt herself on the bed after her and Gar had been roughhousing. Upon Rachel’s plea for her mommy Kory had come rushing out of her bathroom in only her towel, droplets of water still clinging to her skin. Dick had always known that Kory was beautiful. But before moving in he wasn’t faced with it as much as he was now. Plus, he had an outlet for dealing with those thoughts. Now though he spent many nights wondering what laid beneath that towel. Shaking that thought from his head he walked up the stairs to see if he could find the file.

Kory’s room was as sterile as any other room in the house. They had made a point to put decorations in the kids’ rooms but Kory had told Dick that she was more invested in her closet than in putting things on her walls. But she had printed out pictures of her and the kids and stuck them up on her vanity. Dick smiled at the selfie that Rachel had taken of the four of them. Even though she had the shortest arms out of all of them, she had insisted on being the one to take the photo.

Opening the drawer Dick saw that it was filled with socks on one side and a stack of papers on the other. He thumbed through the large stack of papers, and after realizing that they weren’t what he was looking for he put them back and moved on to another stack. A corner of another file caught his eye underneath the pile of socks so he gently picked up the pile to move it over. Quickly realizing what else was under the pile Dick replaced the socks.

He could feel his ears burning as he processed what he just saw. Of course, it made sense when he thought about it. Kory was a woman who unfortunately couldn’t really get out much. But it was so huge. Dick lifted up the stack of laundry again. Was that normal for her planet?

“Dick, I found it. It was in the attic.” Kory came into her room with the file hanging loosely from her manicured hand. Dick kept his back to her, too embarrassed to turn around. He grunted out a response as he fiddled with putting things back in place.

Kory could see how tense his shoulders were from the back, but she couldn’t see his face in the mirror. His mop of brown hair was blocking his eyes, but she could see that the tops of his ears were red. Kory’s eyebrows drew together as she thought about what could possibly have changed his attitude this quickly. Downstairs he had seemed so relaxed. Then it dawned on her.

“I see that you’ve found my dick, Dick.” She couldn’t help but giggle. It seems that she had guessed right.

“Kory, it isn’t that funny.” He finally turned to her his whole face red. She decided to take pity on him. The poor guy had just come up here to look for files.

“Hey, it’s not a big deal. We are both adults.” She moved to stand closer to him, forcing him to make eye contact. “Sometimes all of this can be…” She turned to look over her shoulder, back at the door. “It can be a lot. Sometimes it feels nice to feel something that isn’t stress.”

Dick nodded slowly taking her words in. He knew how she was feeling. He felt that same way. For a while he had Babs to help him with that. But that had fizzled months ago and Dick had attributed it to the fact that they both had daddy issues. He hadn’t meant to make Kory feel judged for her method for dealing with all of this.

“I get it. It’s not like we asked to be put in this position. And there’s no way in hell either of us is just walking away now.” Dick braced himself for what he was about to ask next. He tried to tell himself that it was purely to check in with Kory about how she was handling everything. “When was the last time that you were with another person?” Then quickly he added. “You don’t have to answer that.”

At the same time Kory spoke over him. “J’onn two weeks ago when I went out to New Mexico.”

They both stared at each other for a long time before bursting out in laughter.

“We’re adults. We’re friends. We should be able to talk about our sex lives with each other.” Kory said through a fit of giggles.

“I’ve never really had a good time talking to pretty girls.” And Dick gave her a look that Kory knew he didn’t know made her knees week.

“That’s a lie Dick Grayson. You are one of those men that looks like he just stepped off the runway but somehow has also never seen a mirror.” She quirked her eyebrow at him challenging her to prove him wrong.

Instead he leaned in slowly, searching her eyes to see if she wanted this too. Kory closed the distance between them. She captured his lips with hers, smiling against them as he pulled her closer. Kory wrapped her arms around his neck as Dick deepened the kiss. Everything about the last few months had felt complicated, but this, this felt easy. Pulling back to catch her breath, Kory saw the dazed smile that crossed Dick’s face.

“You know, I could use help with relieving some stress tonight.” She purred up at him, pulling him willingly to the bed.

The next morning Dick woke up to the sound of knocking on the door and a sleepy Kory Anders wrapped in his arms.

“Kory, I checked Dick’s room and he’s not in there. Is he in yours? I’m ready for breakfast.” Of course, Gar was worried about being fed. Before they could get their story together Kory answered for them.

“Yeah, he’s in here buddy.”

“Did you guys have a sleepover?”

“Yeah we did. He will be down soon and get you two fed.” Then Kory turned back into the sheets, cuddling closer to Dick.

“Why would you tell him that we slept together?” Dick whispered worriedly.

“He’s nine. It’s okay. This is better than him being worried every time that you sleep in my room.”

“So, there will be a next time?” Dick had been hopeful but didn’t want to get ahead of himself.

“For stress relief.” Kory lied.

“Glad to know that we are on the same page.” Dick lied too.


	6. Little Beast Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A movie night does not go as expected, but maybe some goof can come out of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: There is discussion of abuse to a child.

Dick walked over to the couch with a large bowl of popcorn in his left hand and holding Rachel against his hip with his right. Kory and Gar were already settled in the middle of the couch whispering to each other underneath a fuzzy throw blanket. Stopping in front of them he placed Rachel down and handed the bowl to Kory so that he could sit beside her. Rachel clambered onto his lap and Kory rested her head against his shoulder. The fact that the four of them somehow only managed to take up one couch cushion put a small smile on Dick’s face. He was knocked out of the moment however by Rachel elbowing him in the ribs.

“Can you not pick one of your old person movies Dickie?” She asked innocently.

“Rachel, last time you asked Kory not to pick any of her scary movies, and the time before that you asked Gar not to pick any of his fighting movies.”

“Yeah, we don’t always want to watch your princess cartoons.” Gar talked through a mouthful of popcorn.

“Mine are the only ones everyone can watch. Kory’s are too scary. And yours and Dick’s are boring.”

“We have the rotation for a reason. There are only so many ways that I can find to entertain you two, and movies manage to knock down a few of those hours. So, if Dick picks a black and white movie we will just roll with it.” Dick wasn’t sure if Rachel had agreed with Kory’s logic, but the littlest member of the couch just snuggled into Dick’s chest deeper as she reached for the popcorn bowl.

“I think you guys will like this one. I used to watch it all the time with Alfred. It’s called ‘Mr. Hollisworth Goes to St. Louis’. Plus it’s not that long. So, if you really hate it Rachel, I will read you an extra bed time story.” Dick bargained, pressing play.

The movie had only been playing for about 20 minutes when it happened. Gar had knocked the bowl of popcorn off of Kory’s lap and started hyperventilating.

“Gar are you okay!” Kory panicked as she moved to give him space while simultaneously checking on him.

“Rita!” Was Gar’s only response. He just kept mumbling the name over and over again as he struggled to breath. Rachel clung to the back of Dick’s pants leg, crying as she timidly looked at Gar. Dick noticed that Gar’s eyes were still trained on the screen and followed his line of sight.

There was the main character, Mr. Hollisworth talking to his love interest, an airplane stewardess who he winds up whisking around St. Louis for the weekend. Dick remembered the actress. Alfred had always talked about how she had been in so many movies at the time, but then suddenly her career just stopped. Her name was Rita Farr.

“The actress in the movie, that’s your Rita?” Dick asked, kneeling to Gar’s level. The little boy had curled up into the fetal position on the floor and Kory was curled around him, rubbing his back. Gar had only brought up the name Rita a handful of times. Always when talking about memories of his life before them. She had baked cakes for him, taught him how to tie his shoes, and would give him haircuts in the kitchen.

Gar only let out a small whimper in response. Kory just kept whispering calming words into his ear and rubbing his back. Dick stepped back, stopping the movie and checking on Rachel.

“Hey, look at, me.” Dick soothed, wiping a tear from her chubby cheek. “He’s going to be okay. Gar just saw something that scared him.”

“But he doesn’t even get scared during Kory’s scary movies.” Rachel hiccupped as another tear ran down her cheek.

“I know kid. But that’s just the thing. We can all be scared of different things.” Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Rachel leaned in, giving Dick a long hug.

“Guys!” Kory loudly whispered to the duo, ending the moment. In the place where Gar had once been, was a sleeping tiger cub with green fur, nuzzling its nose into Kory’s neck. Dick just gasped in awe, pulling Rachel closer. He had assumed that Gar could transform into a tiger, Gar had even mentioned it once, though he rarely talked about his past. But they had never seen him turn into a tiger. Piecing the night together, Dick realized that whatever had caused this transformation, it hadn’t been a happy moment.

Rachel begged to be let down, and Dick cautiously set her on the ground. He wasn’t sure how much of the tiger was Gar, but he knew that he and Kory would find a way to protect both of them.

“Garfield?” Rachel slowly reached out a hand, stroking the soft green fur. The big cat purred under her touch, turning towards her hand. Kory cradled the baby tiger in her arms, shielding his claws from Rachel. The last thing that she wanted was for the little girl to be afraid of Gar. “He’s like a big kitty.” Rachel whispered in amazement, turning bright eyes to Dick.

The world seemed to stand still as Dick reached out a hand to scratch Gar behind the ears. This was the little boy who would play video games with him, and insist on sitting outside with Dick at night to name the constellations. Dick had seen a lot of weird things in his life, both in the circus and with Bruce. But sitting in a living room with his alien maybe girlfriend as she held the child that they co-parented who was now a tiger and was being petted by their other child who was being followed by multiple trying to off her was towards the top of his list.

The baby tiger opened its eyes and let out a small yawn before slowly crawling down from Kory’s lap. She made sure to place her body between Gar’s and Rachel’s as did Dick. Gar walked around the room, observing it, playfully pawing at the game boxes under the tv, and the coloring book that had failed to be put away. It was as if the cub was seeing everything for the first time, and Dick wasn’t sure how much the green furry creature roaming around was Gar. They all watched the tiger learn his surroundings for the next half hour, Rachel refusing to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

Instead they all watched the excursion, from the living room, to the kitchen, from the kitchen to the foray. Around he went, prodding away on his four feet, deftly as if he had always known this body. Then as if he wanted to get Kory’s attention, he rubbed against her leg affectionately, beckoning her to follow. Dutifully she followed him to the spot on the couch that he had jumped onto. He placed his paw on top of the blanket that they had been under earlier.

“Do you want to get back under the blanket Garfield?” She sounded so confident, but Dick knew her better than that. The twitch of her hand as she said it betrayed her. But she still lifted the blanket, and the green tiger found his way into her lap. Then just like that the little green haired head that he had come to love emerged from the blanket. Dick was staring into the face of a sheepish looking Gar. Kory wrapped him tighter in the blanket, taking a moment to breathe in his smell for comfort. Then a wiry smile broke over her face.

“Well I guess Dick was right the day that we met you. You are a cat named Garfield.” Kory teased.

They had put Rachel to bed, much to her annoyance and when Dick and Kory had asked Gar if he wanted to talk about it, he had answered with a shake of his head and a muffled response of ‘tomorrow’. So they had tucked him in to the bed that Donna stayed in while she was in town and instructed Rachel not to disturb him. Dick looked over at Kory as they got ready for bed. They weren’t talking like they usually did. Instead they were moving around the room in silence, whispered touches as they passed each other to get ready for sleep. But he was grateful because he didn’t really have much to say. When they did finally settle into bed though he reached out his arms, and Kory came willingly, enveloping him in a blanket of warmness. He placed a long kiss to her temple and closed his eyes.

In the morning, Kory had a talk with Rachel about how they needed her to stay in her room for a bit while they talked to Gar.

“Like when he was sick?”

“Just like when he was sick.” Kory affirmed.

“But this time he’s not sick. He just turned into a tiger.” Gar hadn’t been coughing or tired like last time.

“That’s true, but he still doesn’t feel well. So, we will go check on him. Then come back and check on you. But we may not all be together today.” Kory felt her gut clench as Rachel cast her eye’s down and nodded numbly.

Stepping into the spare room, Dick and Kory found Gar already up, sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed. His hair was disheveled and his little pajamas had batman symbols on them. This was Gar in all his glory.

“When I was little, I used to live with my parents in Africa.” Gar started, looking up to greet them with a wane smile as they walked into the room. Both adults took seats in front of him, unable to think of what to say next.

“My mom and dad were conservationists. We lived on a wildlife conservation near the Serengeti. Sometimes, mom would convince dad to take me out with them when they went to check on animals. One time I even got to go with them when they tagged the babies.” Gar looked up at Kory with a brightness in his eyes that made Dick’s stomach do a backflip.

“I loved being around all of the animals. If there were babies who were too weak to be with their mommies, mom called them runts, we would take them back and nurse them. Dad said they wouldn’t survive in the wild alone because they were too small.”

“Every day I would wake up, and watch the sunrise across the plains, play with animals, and then watch the sunset. The sky would turn this bright orange that looked like the grass was on fire. It was cool. I loved Africa.”

“I would watch all of the animals play, and if they were animals that mom and dad knew well sometimes they would let me play with them. There was this one tiger, her name was Leda. She had a large litter, but two of her cubs had been runts and my parents were worried about them, so we took them in and I would help with them a lot. They always liked to play wrestle, and dad told me that’s what brothers do. And sometimes they would even wrestle with me.” Gar sighed fondly thinking of the memory.

“That’s when I could out I could change into a tiger. It was scary, but also really cool. But I think for my mom and dad it was mostly scary.” Gar laughed. “But I would just have this feeling. Like of wanting to be where the cubs were, and then it would happen. I would sneak downstairs sometimes and transform and play with them. My parents only made me promise to never do it while we were out. They got used to it. They even called me their little beast boy.”

“One night, after the cubs had grown up a bit and had been reintroduced to the wild, I thought I had seen them. Everyone says that all tigers look the same, but they don’t. So, I turned into a tiger and went out and played with them. I did that for a few days.” Then a dark shadow crossed Gar’s face and Dick regretted that the little boy had ever started the story.

“Then Chief came. Apparently, there had been records of poachers in the area, but my parents hadn’t told me. He came. He killed my brothers. He killed my parents. And he took me back as his prize. A green tiger is quiet exotic. But in the process of transport I changed back into me.”

“I never wanted to be a tiger again. But he would… he would put a shock collar on me. I would get so angry and all I could see was red. Then I’d become the big mean tiger, and he would send me to prowl.”

“I hated it. I would roam all night, trying to stop being angry. Rita would always be in the front yard to welcome me home. She would hold me and whisper to me. Tell me that he didn’t have to win. That when she held me I could just be Gar.” The tiny boy climbed into Kory’s lap, seeking the comfort she had given him last night. “And I would turn into that little cub that I had been on the Serengeti.” Tears started to escape Gar’s eyes as Kory rocked him back and forth.

Dick crawled on his knees to close the short distance between them and held the duo in his arms. They sat like that for what felt like forever, but Dick wasn’t concerned. Finally though it seemed like Gar had managed to calm himself a bit.

“I know that Rachel calls you Mommy, and I don’t want you guys to feel weird. And it’s not like I’m trying to replace my mom and dad.” Gar started sounding unsure of himself. “But do you think that it would be okay if sometimes I called you guys mom and dad. Like not all the time, but maybe every now and then?”

Dick Grayson remembered growing up with Bruce. How he had dreamed of being a lot of things. First a hero. Then a teammate. And at the end, probably anything as far away from Bruce Wayne as he could think of. But Dick remembered his life before Bruce. When he would sit on his dad’s shoulders and laugh as they watched the jugglers. His dad would joke that one day he could carry on the family tradition with a family of his own. Little Richard Grayson could not wait to be a dad, and as he looked down at the little boy sitting in Kory’s lap he realized that maybe more of that part of him had survived than he realized.


	7. Unexpected Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie I thought that more would happen here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see. Life has been hectic and this has been cathartic to check in with my little family.

Dick had learned a while ago to subvert his expectations on what he was coming home to. When he had caught Kory and the kids making smores in the front yard using only her powers as Donna tried to convince Rachel that she wasn’t allowed to use the lasso as a jump rope, Dick had learned that he could come home to anything. What he was not ready though was for the scene that was in front of him. Though looking back he was realizing that this situation had only been a matter of time. 

When he parked his car in the garage he noticed that instead of Donna’s usual motorcycle she had brought her sedan. Shrugging it off he grabbed his work bag out of the passenger seat and walked into the kitchen through the side door. Walking around the corner into the dining room he came face to face with Kory and Donna talking to Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince. If Kory hadn’t slightly squinted her eyes at him as he walked in, he would have been certain that he was invisible. Rachel was wrapped around her neck talking animatedly with he assumed Gar, since Kory was seated so far up on the seat. 

His suspicions were confirmed when he caught a glimpse of green hair from behind Kory’s shoulder. He felt the corners of his mouth tick up thinking about the fact that the two kids somehow managed to hang off of Kory the majority of the time. As Gar moved animatedly behind Kory’s back, Dick caught his eye.

“Dad, you’re home!” Gar jumped down from the seat and ran past the table launching himself at Dick for a hug. 

Rachel quickly turned around and scrambled down from Kory to give Dick a hug for herself. 

Both Bruce and Diana turned in their seats to fully face the younger man, and their demeanors could not be more different. Where a soft smile graced Diana’s ageless features, Bruce’s indifference held an underlying hint of disdain. Looking from them Dick locked eyes with Donna who gave her own tight smile of encouragement. 

Kory rose from her side of the table to greet Dick with a soft peck on the lips.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you. Donna decided a surprise would be best.” She whispered between them.

“It’s for the best. When Bruce wants something he typically gets it.” Dick placed a quick kiss against her forehead and allowed Rachel to take his hands and lead him to the table.

“Dick this is Ms. Diana and Mr. Wayne Bruce.” Gar explained as they took seats at the table.

“Mr. Wayne Bruce?” Dick raised an eyebrow at Bruce.

“Well he said to call him Mr. Wayne, but Ms. Diana said to call him Mr. Bruce.” Rachel explained.

“Mr. Wayne is fine guys.” Dick instructed. “What brings you by Bruce? It’s nice to see you Diana.”

“Always wonderful to see you Richard.” Bruce answered dryly for the two of them. “I figured I would drop by the property since I am in fact the owner. Ms. Anders is a fantastic delight. Also Garfield and Rachel speak very highly of you.”

Dick felt his jaw tick each time that Bruce mentioned one of their names and reached under the table for Kory’s hand. 

“Diana was telling us about what you and Donna were like growing up. It’s all starting to make sense now.” Kory gave his hand a comforting squeeze back.

“That’s great.” Dick ground out through grunted teeth. “Will we have the pleasure of hosting you two for dinner?” 

“I’m afraid not. I have already invited Ms. Anders and the children to the manor for tomorrow. I have let Alfred know that you all will be in attendance and he’s delighted to see you again.” With that Bruce rose from the table and assisted Diana with her chair. As he went to get their coats Diana hung back. 

“Richard, it really is important that you come tomorrow. I’m sorry for dropping in on you like this, but you and I both know that Bruce has known about this situation for a while, so him dropping in right now has to be for a reason.” Diana placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before passing him to meet up with Bruce.

Taking his new family to the home where he was raised was not something that Dick had spent much time imagining before Bruce had stopped by. And though all of the adults seemed to be slightly on edge, the children seemed like they couldn’t be more excited, albeit put off from the dress code. 

“I don’t get why we have to dress fancy?” Gar asked as he pulled the collar of his polo from his neck. 

“Yeah, I thought that getting dressed up would be fun, but I don’t think I like wearing dresses.” Rachel admitted kicking her feet in the backseat as they pulled into the roundabout driveway. 

“Listen guys, Dick and I don’t like getting dressed up either. But we were asked nicely to go by Dick’s- by Mr. Wayne. So, we will spend all of tomorrow in our PJs. But tonight, we get to enjoy a night outside of the house that doesn’t involve grocery shopping.”

“Or we could go to the park?” Dick suggested looking in the backseat to the kids for backup.

“No, we cannot. No park. Dinner, small talk, then pajamas for 24 hours. Let’s go.”

Walking through the doors Dick was hit with a sense of nostalgia that he wasn’t expecting. The large portraits that hung along the hallway and the bight gold and ornate staircase reminded him of the first time that he had walked through those doors.

“Master Grayson, so nice to see you.” Alfred greeted with a bright smile. Dick embraced the older man in a long hug. He didn’t miss a lot of things about this place, but Alfred was one.

“Alfred, it’s so great to see you.” Stepping back, he beckoned his small family forward. “This is Kory Anders. And these are Gar and Rachel.” Both of the kids did awkward curtseys and from the look on Kory's face he could tell this was something she taught them for her amusement.

“Well it is lovely to meet all of you. Seeing the smile that you all have put on Master Grayson’s face lets me know all that I need to know about you. I have also made a delightful dinner, but if you kids don’t like it I have backup chicken nuggets.” Alfred gave a sneaky smile to the little ones.

“Master Grayson, Master Wayne is in the den waiting to talk to you. Ms. Anders, if you’ll follow me I have some portraits of a young Master Grayson that I am sure you will find delightful.”

Walking into the den Dick found Bruce, Diana, and Donna sitting around the coffee table; each with their drink of choice in hand. Heading over to the bar cart he poured himself a whiskey neat.

“What brings us all here?” Dick sat down across from Bruce, crossing his ankle over his knee.

“We both know that you have retired the Robin.” Bruce locked eyes with Dick. “I am in the process of recruiting a new Robin.”

“You mean adopting a child?” Donna challenged.

“Yes. His name is name is Jason Todd. And for this to be successful, I will need the help of all of you. All of you will be instrumental in his training.” 

Dick shared a look with Donna and before she could say anything he beat her to it.

“I’m out.” Dick downed his drink and then left, before staying to listen to anything that the others had to say.

Dick left with the mission to get them out of there as soon as possible. When he finally caught up with Kory and Alfred he found them in the portrait room with the kids laughing at a particular picture frame. When Alfred caught his eye, he beckoned him over. 

“Master Grayson, I was showing them the picture of you from the time that you decided to try a mullet.” 

“Dick, you have to let me do that with my hair.” Gar laughed from behind his hand. 

“No way bud,” Dick felt a smile crack his demeanor. “Take it from me, it’s not a goof look. But maybe a rattail?” 

“I want a rattail!” Rachel chimed in, not wanting to be left out.

“Rattails for everyone!” Dick laughed. At the questioning gaze that Kory gave him Dick amended his comment. “Except not Kory. We like her hair just as it is.”

“Is it dinner time yet?” Rachel asked. 

As much as Dick didn’t want to stay for dinner, he realized that they had done all of this for him. Gotten dressed up, and driven out here. They were even willing to spend the night in these stuffy clothes. And as much as he disliked Bruce at the moment, he loved them a lot more, and didn’t want to do anything else to unsettle their night.

“I’m sure it’s only a little while longer kiddo.” Dick ruffled her hair, guiding them over to the picture of him sporting a mohawk.


End file.
